Sestak Remodeling Solutions LLC

Sestak cut a hole through the roof to install a dryer exhaust. Water now leaks through my roof as a result. The area around the hole was not fully sealed in at least two places. I've removed the ceiling around the hole to confirm that the leaks are indeed from the installation hole cut by Sestak. I have heard no response from them despite three emails and two voicemails. And so I'm trying this review (and one with BBB) with the hope of some response.

We had an aging deck that had been refinished once and had replaced several boards. Sestak?s bid was one of four and was the second lowest. We had used Sestak before but mostly for interior work but the estimate was very competitive and it had the best structure. All the other bids gave us a flat rate and in doing some research I was concerned that materials costs were not being accurately reflected. Robert gave us a materials allowance and it made it very clear as to what we were getting and where the real costs were. The deck replacement also had a few additional components that also made us decide Sestak was a better fit than a ?decks only? company. We needed: 1. A small wooden shed demolished. 2. Plumbing that ran through the shed rerouted out to the deck. 3. The orientation of the stairs coming off the deck changed. 4. A stump removed to accommodate the change in the stairs direction. 5. New French doors leading to the deck installed. We scheduled a start date with Robert and everything started on time and went smoothly. His crew was punctual and had the job site cleaned each evening by 5pm. Once the original deck was removed we discovered significant pointing issues in the brick. Robert recommended repointing and provided photos along with estimated costs which were very reasonable. He was already aware of the special soft mortar needs for our 120 year old house and knew where to procure it. We changed our minds about a few things (lighting, adding a second color wood) after the project started. The change order process was easy and because of the allowance structure, the costs were very clear (since they were only materials changes and did not impact labor costs) The deck was finished on time and they even lay down some extra pavers from reorienting the stairs to make a space for my grill. They were also very careful of the plants in our yard. The doors came about 1 week after the deck was finished and that took less than a day including painting. In the year we have had the deck we have only had one issue and that was with the plumbing. Likely because I didn?t drain the pipe early enough. But we reported it to Robert last month and he had someone over to repair it the next day honoring his 1 year warrantee.

I'm shocked by the somewhat negative reviews of Robert Sestak and his crew. They are, BY FAR, the best contractors I've dealt with. They show up on time, protect every inch of the house that might be impacted by the construction and clean up each day. They are the only people I trust to do work on our home. And the work is top-notch. And if there is a problem with anything at the end of the project, Robert sends his crew back to fix whatever it is with NO questions asked. I fully recommend Robert and his crew for any work you need on your home.

I thought I had found the perfect contractor, but he never finished the job....never put the final finish piece around the ceramic tile or the bathtub. Never returned my calls or emails after he got his last check. I even gave him a free very expensive Nextel phone for a crew member. Very disappointed with this company. My bathroom looks terrible because of the cheap grout he used and the water damage resulting from him never finishing the job. The grout has washed away between the tiles and the wall. There is a space between the wall and the tub. Never even caulked properly. The faucet in the tub wasn't installed properly, nor was the showerhead. All have broken and been replaced since installed. It's called take the money and run!

On time, on budget, and high quality fit and finish for the interior work on our historic home. Workers arrived and departed on time and left the work area clean and well organized every day. They set up a temporary door to prevent dust and dirt from entering the rest of the house. It took approximately 2 weeks to complete all of the work. Our tile work was extremely challenging because we were using historically accurate encaustic tile that required placing 380 individual tiles in a 4X3 foot entry way to create a specific pattern. It came out perfectly. Our only issue was with the gutter work because about 4 months after completion of the job we noticed dripping. We reported the problem and we had workers on site the next day repair at no additional cost along with before and after photos (As promised in the contract which gave us a 1 year warrantee on all work) . One of the few contractors I have worked with who extensively used and responded to email promptly. This was our second large project with Sestack and we have found his bids to always be the highest we receive but after experiences with other contractors we have found the premium price to generally be worth it in that almost no oversight is required, the work is very high quality, and the owner is so accessible by email.

We had a renovation of the top floor of our rowhouse done in anticipation of the birth of our child. Robert was extremely friendly in the beginning and talked a very good game about the typical problems with contractors and their lack of communication and follow through. He was very convincing. Although the quote was on the high side, we thought we had found someone we could trust. We felt we could be happy to pay a bit of a premium to get quality and professionalism. We were wrong, it turns out. The build out of the closets was mostly good, however, several of the details, such as how the rod in the closet would be supported, given its long run, were not done as Robert promised. He made a big deal of it, only to have his team not follow through. On a couple of these issues, he subsequently tried to explain away the problem. He was also supposed to install insulation in the floor under the kitchen and despite having to try to rectify it three times, still failed to get it right. We had originally been given a schedule that would have comfortably seen us finished before our daughter was born. In the event, she was almost three weeks past due, and the work was still not complete. I did not push hard enough to get things fixed because we were dealing with a newborn. Under other circumstances, I would have withheld much more of the payment, but we just wanted to get our house back.

Sestak was communicative prior to and arrived at our appointment for an estimate exactly on time, thorough and professional as he assessed the work to be done, and then he totally disappeared. Offered no estimate, didn't reply to a note asking for one, just plain gone. He knew I was referred by previous clients who were happy with his work so I was surprised.

See preceding note,

Thye were very good! Was very good about pointing out other issues, but never pressuered me into anything. I have no regrets about the experience.